Faith, Trust, and Purpose
by RheatheHadley
Summary: Hiccup never wanted to hurt another creature, he just didn't want to be 'useless' anymore. Toothless never planned on befriending a Viking teen, he just couldn't help his natural instincts. When two souls are brought together in a bond of dragon and rider, it's not just their lives that are changed forever.
1. Chapter 1

Hiccup sat at the desk in his room, a smudge of charcoal darkening his cheek as he worked by the light of his dying candle. The pages in front of him were covered in designs for his latest invention: a bola launcher. In the middle of the page he was currently working on was his design. Several papers ago, it had been a preliminary sketch, just his ideas taking shape. Now, it was drawn to scale. With measurements written in the margins and details on how exactly the gears would work with the launching mechanism, Hiccup couldn't help but feel the familiar sensation of pride swell in his chest. There wasn't much he was confident about, but his inventions were at the top of that short list. Of course, he wouldn't let himself really feel accomplished until it was built and working, but this was a start.

The candle flickered as it began to use up the last of its wick. The familiar burn of working too long in low light and being too focused to remember to blink regularly settled in his eyes. He rubbed them with his fist as he yawned, realizing it was time to turn in for the night.

Hiccup thought about what had happened that morning. His father hadn't left any breakfast for him, which happened often enough. If Stoick woke up well before his son would, he wouldn't bother making extra food knowing that it would be cold and unappetizing when his son came to eat it. So, like Hiccup always did on these mornings, he headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. He took his plate and sat at one of the empty tables at the edge of the room like he normally did. No one would join him, no one ever did. But Hiccup didn't really mind. He was too busy satisfying his hunger to worry about his lack of social interaction.

What was different about this morning than the others was the conversation. Usually, the Great Hall was quiet this early in the morning, everyone generally still to sleepy to worry about talking. On this morning however, sitting a few tables away from Hiccup was his Uncle Spitelout. He was talking loudly with the other Vikings surrounding him.

"I don't understand why Stoick keeps that little nuisance around. He's useless! He can't fight, he's scared of dragons, and he's caught the village on fire more times than anyone cares to count. All he had to do yesterday was help take care of some harmless sheep and he couldn't even handle a job as simple as that! I hope Stoick doesn't expect the little runt to become chief one day, because then all of Berk will be doomed."

Hiccup's shoulders slumped with sadness. His father had asked him to help Bucket and Mulch with their animals yesterday and he'd agreed, eager to show his father that he could help. However, when he'd been milking the yak, a handful of the sheep had gotten out of their field. It wasn't a huge mistake, and he'd chased them all down quick enough, but people had still found out how he'd messed up such a simple task. Hiccup fought the tears rising in his eyes. Useless, that's all anyone ever seemed to think he was, just a useless little runt always getting in the way and causing problems.

Hiccup abandoned his food before finishing it, too upset to even consider eating anymore. He'd fled the Great Hall silently, none of the Vikings realizing that he had been there and heard their hurtful conversation. When he arrived at home, his father was still out, so he let himself cry like he only ever did when he was alone. Useless. Runt. Nuisance. Their hurtful words swirled around in his head. He ran up to his room and sat at his desk, taking deep breaths to try to calm himself down. The last thing he needed was to be in the middle of a breakdown and have his father come home. It'd make him look weaker than they already thought he was.

He took his mind off his inner turmoil by focusing on the invention designs he had hanging on his wall and- That was it! He'd invent something, something better than all of his other inventions, and show the entire village that he wasn't useless! But what? What could possibly be good enough to prove that to them? All anyone really cared about was killing dragons. And with that thought, Hiccup began to formulate his plan. Being the kind-hearted boy he was, he never desired to fight and kill the fire breathing beasts. He never wanted to be anywhere near them actually, since disaster seemed to follow him. He wasn't scared of them exactly, just choosing to try and minimize disaster. No matter how much he didn't want to hurt the dragons, he realized that dragons would be the key to changing his image. Now, there was no way he would kill one, even if he could invent something to do it. Catching one, however, was a whole other story. If he could catch one, he could present it to his father in front of the whole village. Brimming with excitement, he began to work.

Hiccup yawned again, bringing himself out of his negative thoughts. Tomorrow, he would build his bola launcher. During the next raid, he would catch a dragon. And then, his days as Hiccup the Useless would be in the past. For the first night in ages, Hiccup fell asleep with a content smile on his face.

}!{

Hiccup woke up early the next morning to his dad milling around downstairs. He crossed over to his desk where he folded up his final design and tucked it safely into his vest. Then he came down from his room to find Stoick sitting at the table eating his breakfast.

"Ah, son, you're up early."

Hiccup shrugged. "I've got some work down at the forge I need to get to."

Stoick's face got a little bright at hearing that. His son doing hard, manly work down at the forge was always good news to him. Plus, if Hiccup was down at the forge, he would be less likely to get himself into trouble. "At least have some breakfast before you go. I made plenty."

Hiccup shrugged and sat down across from his father. They ate in silence, Stoick thinking about his impending day of chiefing and Hiccup thinking about working on his invention. And, Hiccup didn't want to admit it, but he was starving. He hadn't finished his breakfast the day before and he'd been too caught up in his invention to worry about eating lunch or dinner. He cleared his plate without a problem before heading out the door. Stoick was too lost in his thoughts to notice his son leave.

On the way to the forge, Hiccup ran into Astrid, like _literally_ ran into her. He bumped into her and she had him flat on the ground before he could even realize what had happened.

"Ow," he groaned from his position on the ground.

Astrid glared at him, her foot planted firmly in the center of his chest. "Watch where you're going Hiccup."

"Sorry," he offered, not even trying to get her foot off him. He knew it was no use; she was way stronger than he was.

"And be careful. With you rushing around like that, a disaster is bound to happen. And I know I speak for the rest of the village when I say no one wants to deal with another one of your disasters today." She glared at him for a moment longer before removing her foot from his chest and marching away.

Hiccup pulled himself up off the ground and brushed the dirt off his pants and vest before hurrying over to the forge. Once inside, he made sure Gobber wasn't in and took the design from his vest. He unfolded in and laid it on his workbench before getting to work. He gathered the materials and got the coals burning. From then on, it was nailing the wooden parts into place and hammering the metal bits until they began to take the shape he needed them to. Gears and springs were always difficult, but Hiccup was always up for a challenge when it came to his inventions. He worked clear through lunch again and he would have worked though dinner if it hadn't been for Gobber.

The one-armed, one-legged Viking sauntered in with some bread and smoked fish for the boy. Hiccup set his tools down, wiped some of the sweat and soot from his face, and walked over to meet him.

"You've been in here all day boy; I thought it was about time for you to eat somethin'."

Hiccup accepted the food graciously and began stuffing his face.

"So," Gobber said, "are you working on anythin' special?"

Hiccup nodded. "New invention, but it's not done yet. You'll have to wait for me to unveil it."

"An unveiling, huh? Sounds like this is a pretty good one. Well, I won't keep you then. Just make sure you don't stay up working all night like you did last night."

Hiccup swallowed his mouthful of bread. "How did you…?"

Gobber gestured to the dark circles beneath Hiccup's eyes and the boy sighed.

"All right, I'll make sure to get some sleep tonight. I'm almost done anyway."

Gobber nodded. "That's a good lad." Then he left.

Hiccup finished off the rest of his food before continuing on his work. He was in a much better mood than he previously had been. It seemed like Gobber was the only one who truly cared about him. Sure, he knew that his father loved him, but it was difficult to see on most days. Gobber, on the other hand, was always there for him. He taught Hiccup everything he knew about smithing. And though Gobber still poked fun about the boy's weaker build, he never questioned that Hiccup had a brilliant mind.

A little past sunset, the coals had cooled and Hiccup was putting the finishing touches on his invention. The calibration would need to be set tomorrow, but Hiccup was satisfied enough that he'd finished the actual build. Now all he had to do was wait for a dragon raid. Hiccup laughed a little to himself on his way back home. For the first time ever, a Viking was actually looking forward to a dragon raid. He almost couldn't believe it.

}!{

Hiccup didn't have to wait long for the dragons to come. Two nights had passed by without chaos, but on the third night he woke to sound of Vikings yelling and the smell of wood burning. It was time to change his life. He jumped out of bed, pulled his boots on, and ran down the stairs. His father was already gone, so Hiccup didn't bother sneaking around his home. Instead, he burst right out the front door and headed straight for the forge where his invention was waiting.

The way from his house to the forge was full of Vikings running about. Some had axes, some had large hammers, and some had swords. Hiccup had to make a few careful dodges to avoid getting hurt by their massive weapons. He made it to the forge in one piece though. Instead of going in the front where Vikings were lining up to get their weapons fixed by Gobber, Hiccup snuck around to the back. Unbeknownst to Gobber, Hiccup had worked one of the boards in the back so he could slip in and out of his little work area without Gobber knowing. He'd only used it a couple of times in the past to sneak in, grab a few of his designs, and sneak back out. This time, it would be tricky. He'd be coming in the back, but there was no way that his invention would fit through there. The only option was for him to bring it out the front. He'd have to wait for a distraction, something that would draw the attention of not only Gobber, but all of the Vikings waiting at the front of the stall.

Hiccup snuck in the back like he'd planned. Gobber hadn't heard the board slide back into place nor had he heard Hiccup trip over one of the stools back there. So far, he was undetected. He crept over to his invention. He'd built it to be mobile, like a wheel barrow, with one wheel in front and two handles in the back. It was heavy, but with the excitement coursing through Hiccup's body, he had no doubt he'd be able to move it.

He wheeled it over to the curtain before peeking into the main part of the forge. Gobber was hammering a twisted sword back into shape while the line of people waiting continued to get longer. Hiccup sighed, worried that he'd be waiting for quite some time. Suddenly, there was an explosion coming from somewhere down the street. The most likely cause was an errant Zippleback set on causing as much mayhem as possible. All of the Vikings in line turned to see the source of the commotion. Gobber set down his tools to run over and take a look as well. This was it, this was Hiccup's chance. He bolted from his hiding place and over to the entrance to the forge. He moved quickly and silently, him clumsy feet actually not betraying him for once.

Once he was out, he stuck to the shadows, not wanting to be seen. Still, he hurried in getting to his destination. A little past the east side of the village was a decent sized grassy area. It came to an enormous drop-off down to the ocean. Hiccup had noticed in the past that many of the dragons would fly over to that area to turn around so they could circle back and cause more damage. He had figured it was his best shot at catching one. Plus, that area would be empty of Vikings during the raid. While Hiccup wasn't ashamed of his invention, he had never fired it before, and the last thing he wanted was everyone watching if he missed.

Hiccup set the bola launcher near the drop-off and got it ready. Once he was standing on the back, finger resting by the trigger, his eyes were trained on the sky. He watched for any movement. Gronkle, Monstrous Nightmare, Deadly Nadder, Hideous Zippleback; Hiccup wasn't going to be picky. He just needed a dragon, and any dragon would do. A flash of movement caught his eye for a second before it was gone again. He peered deeper into the darkness until he saw it again. It was more of a shadow than an actual definitive shape, but there was only one dragon the Vikings knew of that were camouflaged that well at night. It was a Night Fury.

Hiccup couldn't believe his luck. A Night Fury! The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself, the most feared dragon to the Vikings on Berk. It never stole food, never showed itself, and never missed. And if Hiccup managed to catch it, he would never be called useless again. He looked through his scope, following the movements of the shadow in the sky, and pulled on the trigger. The force of the bola being launched threw Hiccup from the back of his invention, but he was on his feet before he could blink. He held his breath, waiting.

Seconds later, Hiccup could hear the collision in the air of his bola wrapping itself around the beast. What he hadn't been prepared for, however, was the shriek of pain and fear he heard come from the dragon. He watched as it plummeted towards the ground before landing hard among the trees by Raven's Point. It hadn't had the use of its wings to help slow its dissent, and therefore crashed with alarming speed. Hiccup could still hear the dragon's shriek echoing in his mind. That pain, that fear, that undoubted helplessness that dragon must have felt when it could do nothing but fall, these were all emotions Hiccup was familiar with, emotions that made him despise getting out of bed on some mornings. And now, Hiccup had gone and inflicted them on another creature. The guilt was making his stomach turn. He doubled over and emptied the contents of his stomach into the grass.

When he straightened, his eyes were drawn to his bola launcher. The sight of it made him want to yell. He'd created it to make himself feel better, but he didn't think he'd ever felt worse. With his heart full of anger, he rushed over to it and gave it a hard shove. It was enough to send the contraption over the edge of the drop-off and into the water below. Hiccup felt a bit better now that it was gone, but not much. The dragon's shriek still played in his mind. He sat abruptly and buried his head in his hands. The raid was still going on, and he knew it wasn't really safe to just be sitting out in the open, but he could bring himself to move just yet. He pulled angrily at the grass for a moment, but stopped when a sound caught his attention.

Breathing, not the kind of breathing that would come from a Viking, but the low rumbling breaths that came from a dragon. Slowly, Hiccup lifted his head. Standing about one hundred paces away was a Monstrous Nightmare. It studied Hiccup with its fierce yellow eyes. Smoke swirled up from it's nostrils as a growl rumbled from its throat. Hiccup felt fear grip is heart with icy claws. The dragon lowered its head and took a small step in his direction. Hiccup stood quickly, turning at the same time, and sprinted towards the village.

He could hear the Monstrous Nightmare coming after him, but he didn't dare turn around to see how close it was. He just kept running. When he reached the village, he went around one of the houses, making his way towards the street. He was hoping if he led the beast into the village that one of the Vikings would stop it from eating him. However, just when he came to the front of the house, he tripped, landing on his wrist. It twisted painfully beneath him, but he didn't dwell on it much, not with an angry dragon after him.

It just so happen that the house he'd fallen by had a front porch. Hiccup used that to his advantage, rolling under it and hiding himself from view. Peering out from his hiding place, he saw the dragon creep by. It had its nose in the air, searching for his scent. Hiccup held his breath, thinking there was no outcome to the situation where he wouldn't end up dragon food. Then, he was rescued. His father came around the corner and tackled the beast. It tried to breathe fire, but it had already reached its shot limit. When Stoick pulled out his axe, Hiccup closed his eyes. Logically, he knew that if the dragon didn't end up eating him, it would most likely be killed by another Viking. Still, the guilt of having caused yet another creature's pain rested heavily on his shoulders. He heard his father's axe cut into the dragon's flesh and he smelled the blood as it was spilt on the ground. Hiccup rolled to the side and retched, but there was nothing left in his stomach to come up.

He stayed under the porch until his father was gone and the dragon's corpse had been hauled away. The telltale sounds of the raid had vanished as the horizon began to brighten. Hiccup crawled out of his hiding place and made his way back to his house. If the sun was close to rising, his father would start looking for him. The chief did this after every raid to make sure that his son hadn't been eaten or carried off by dragons. Once Hiccup arrived at his house, he went upstairs and rolled into bed. He wouldn't fall asleep, but he could pretend, and it would keep is father from asking questions on his whereabouts during the raid.

Sure enough, it didn't take long for Stoick to make his way home looking for his son. When he found Hiccup upstairs in his bed, seemingly asleep, he quietly left to go work on cleaning up the village. Hiccup waited until he heard the front door fall closed before he got up. He winced at the pain coming from his throbbing wrist but pushed the sensation to the back of his mind. He had more important things to worry about. Grabbing his journal and some charcoal, he readied himself for the task at hand. Then he escaped out the back of his house and into the woods. He had a Night Fury to find.


	2. Chapter 2

Hiccup sighed as he marked another X on the map in his journal. He'd been searching for a while now and there was no sign of the Night Fury. Doubt was beginning to set in. Would he ever find it? He had to. It had gone down near Raven's Point, that much he was sure of. But who's to say that the bola hadn't been destroyed when the creature hit the ground and that it had flown off already?

He marched up the next incline and let his mouth fall open in surprise. The trees were destroyed, broken and mangled. There was a rut in the ground, the kind that would be left by something falling from the sky. Hiccup hopped down into the little trench and followed it hesitantly, unsure about what he would find once he reached the end.

He followed it up a little slope and watched as it disappeared down the back side of the hill. Climbing up the slope, he peered over the top. What he saw made his heart beat faster. At the bottom of the hill was the Night Fury. It was lying on its side, the bola still wrapped tightly around its body. For a moment, Hiccup thought the creature was dead and he felt panic claw at his throat at the thought of being a killer. But then he saw its black scaled chest rise and fall with each breath it took and he felt himself calm a little.

Hiccup climbed down the back side of the hill, making his way over to the creature. He stopped less than twenty paces from it. Briefly, he wondered it the dragon was asleep or if it had been knocked unconscious when it hit the ground, but then he decided that it really didn't matter as long as he hadn't killed it. His eyes were drawn to the bola and the way the ropes stretched tightly around the dragon's body. It looked like it would be painful. Hiccup bit his lip as a hesitant thought crept into his mind. He could cut the ropes, he had his knife with him, but that would mean getting close to the Night Fury, close enough to touch it, close enough for it to turn and eat him before he could even blink.

The thought made Hiccup want to turn and run back the way he came. But he couldn't let himself do that; he _wouldn't_ let himself do that, because he'd launched the bola and helping the dragon was his responsibility now. Stealing a small amount of courage, he pulled his knife from his belt with shaking hands. Some small part of him expected the dragon to suddenly wake up and try to attack him, but its only movement was from its even breaths. Hiccup approached the Night Fury one step at a time until he was directly at its side. Now for the ropes. Should he go slowly to try to avoid waking the creature? Or quickly to get it over with as soon as possible? He settled on doing it quickly, like pulling out a thorn.

Hiccup brought his knife to the ropes and began to saw through them. The first one snapped, but the others stayed where they were. He reached for another and sawed through it as well. When that one gave way, the ropes finally began to go slack. The one wrapped around the wing, however, remained taut as a bowstring with an arrow notched and ready to ready to fly. With his knife, Hiccup made one clean cut through it and the ropes all fell to the ground. Seeing the bola he'd launched no longer wrapped around the dragon's form felt like a huge weight lifted off his chest.

It was short lived though. The beast began to wake, almost like it could sense in its unconscious state that it had been freed. It stretched its legs, testing their newfound freedom and raised its wing to the sky. Hiccup, not expecting the movement, was startled and stumbled back in surprise. Unfortunately, he didn't see the tree root peaking out of the ground behind him. When it caught his foot, his mind was in too much of a haze of _dragonpanicfalling_ to remember that he'd hurt his arm just hours before during the dragon raid.

Hiccup flung his arm out behind him to try and catch himself, but his weight put too much pressure on his wrist and a cry of pain escaped his lips. The dragon grew more alert at the sound, ears raised and questioning. It looked over it Hiccup and their eyes met, green meeting green. Hiccup's eyes were wide with fear, but the dragon's were wide with something akin to curiosity. Never in Hiccup's life did he expect to look at a dragon and think 'innocent', but that was the only word that came to mind when seeing the Night Fury's expression.

"Dragons always go for the kill." That's what everyone said, but this one didn't look like it was going to eat him. It didn't look bloodthirsty or vicious like the Monstrous Nightmare had hours before. In fact, the Night Fury looked rather _playful_. Hiccup slowly drew his injured arm to his chest, still wary of the creature before him. Just because it didn't look like it was going to eat him didn't mean that it wasn't going to.

The dragon focused on the movement and followed it with his eyes. Hiccup swallowed nervously and one of the dragon's ears twitched. The creature rolled a little so it could stand and crept toward Hiccup slowly. Instead of reaching for his knife like a normal Viking teen would have, he scrambled backwards in the dirt until his back met stone and there was nowhere left to go. He was cornered and regretted, not for the first time, ever building that stupid bola launcher. As the dragon continued its approach, Hiccup closed his eyes tightly. If it was going to eat him, he wasn't going to watch.

When the warmth of its breath ghosted over his face, he had to bite back a scream. When he felt its saliva on his face, he actually _did_ scream. What he hadn't been expecting was for the dragon to pull back at the sudden noise. Cautiously, Hiccup opened his eyes. The Night Fury sat in front of him, eyes still wide. Unlike earlier when its ears were perked with curiosity, they were now turned down. It almost looked… worried. Hiccup brought his uninjured arm to his face and wiped away the sticky saliva. It didn't come off completely, but he could no longer feel it sliding and dripping over his skin.

Hiccup smiled weakly at the dragon, hoping it didn't look too much like a grimace. "You-you didn't hurt me," he said. "It's just my arm."

He rolled up the sleeve of his tunic to expose his wrist. It was swollen and bruised; he definitely should have taken the time to wrap it before he'd left the house. He lifted the injured appendage and showed it to the Night Fury. Cocking its head to the side, it once again crept closer. This time, Hiccup didn't try to escape its advance. It sniffed the bruised flesh and opened its mouth to lick it. The pressure from its tongue was a little painful on his bruises, but he could tell the dragon was just trying to help so he let it be.

Once the dragon seemed to be done bathing his wrist in spit, it sat back on its haunches and looked at Hiccup expectantly. He wasn't sure what it was waiting for, but then he felt it. His wrist! The persistent throbbing he'd felt moments ago had faded considerably. It still ached, but the pain was much more bearable.

Hiccup looked back up at the dragon with excitement splayed clearly across his face. "Dragon saliva has medicinal properties? That's amazing!" He laughed a little to himself, thinking about how much Vikings saw dragons' mouths as weapons, waiting to spew fire and gnash with razor sharp teeth. He wondered what they would say if they knew dragons could use their mouths to heal.

Hiccup smiled brightly at the Night Fury. "Thank you."

The dragon stared at his mouth with a puzzled expression before pulling his lips back. He was… smiling. It looked rather strange, but nevertheless adorable. Hiccup was trying to figure out just what made a dragon showing off his slimy pink gums 'adorable' when a sudden thought caught him off guard. The Night Fury was showing off his _gums_ , not teeth. The Night Fury was toothless.

"Toothless, huh?" Hiccup pondered. It was very strange. He wondered if all Night Furies were toothless or just this one. Regardless of the answer, it was quite an identifying characteristic.

"Do you mind if I call you that? Toothless?"

The dragon crooned happily, like he had been waiting for just that.

Hiccup smiled. "Good, I would have hated to keep referring to you as 'dragon'."

No longer afraid of the sleek black creature in front of him, Hiccup rose to his feet. Keeping his injured right arm to his chest, he extended the left one fully towards Toothless. Would he let the Viking teen touch him? His question was answered when Toothless eagerly brought his snout to Hiccup's palm. The dragon let his eyes slide shut at the contact, pleased with this development. The Viking hatchling was no longer afraid of him.

Hiccup felt the dragon's scales, incredibly smooth like stone, yet undeniably soft at the same time. Bringing his hand from the snout to the top of his head, he gave a good scratch. Toothless made a noise that couldn't be described as anything but a purr.

Hiccup's happiness at befriending a dragon was overshadowed with worry. He continued to scratch Toothless' scales, but the smile that was on his face just moments before was now replaced with a frown.

"It's not safe for you to be here. If anyone from the village were to find you they wouldn't hesitate to kill you."

Toothless remained unaware of the inner turmoil Hiccup was facing, lost in the pleasure of having his scales scratched. However, the teen's hands ceased their movements when his mind was assaulted with the horrible possibilities of how Toothless could meet his end at a Viking's cruel hand. He remembered how he'd felt hours ago when he thought he'd caused pain to a vicious unnamed beast. The guilt was terrible. Now, thinking about the death of this kind creature that he'd even cared to name… it was unthinkable. There was only one solution.

"You have to leave Toothless," he said, peering into the Night Fury's bright green eyes. "You need to fly away until you're far from Berk and safe from the people that live here."

Toothless whined unhappily at the sadness in Hiccup's voice. He pushed his head to the boy's chest and nuzzled him. Hiccup pushed him away though.

"I know you want to stay, and I want that too… I really do. It would be nice to have a friend. But I just couldn't live with myself if someone found you and hurt you!" Tears rose to his eyes. "Just… just fly away." He gestured to the birds soaring overheard, hoping Toothless would follow their example.

Toothless gazed up at them momentarily before bringing his eyes back to Hiccup's. The dragon shook his head.

"No?" Hiccup asked.

Toothless nodded.

"Ugh! This is ridiculous! Why do you have to argue with me? Do you even realize what they could do to you?"

Again, Toothless nodded.

Hiccup huffed in frustration. "Fine, if you won't leave to protect yourself, can you do it for me? Please?"

Toothless didn't move for a moment, like he was considering what to do next. The young Viking was waiting for the creature to nod or shake his head or maybe just take off into the sky. What he wasn't expecting, however, was for Toothless to bring his tail out in front of him and hold it out to Hiccup. On the right side of the dragon's tail was a tail fin, the same sleek black as the rest of him. The left side, however, was a much different story. Where it should have held a tail fin to mirror the other, there was nothing but a bleeding cut. The fin had been torn off.

Hiccup wanted to reach out and touch, but refrained, worried that he'd hurt his new friend even more. "Did this happen during the fall?"

Toothless nodded. Hiccup wanted to yell at the top of his lungs in frustration. He couldn't believe what he'd done. He'd not only shot this beautiful creature out of the sky, but he'd rendered it incapable of flying as well and put him in danger of all the Vikings on the island.

Instead of letting his frustration fill him, he replaced it with rising determination. He'd fix this. He'd right all of the wrongs he'd made in the last few hours. Toothless would fly again, of that he was sure.

"Alright," Hiccup said, a plan already forming in his head. "Toothless, I'm going to fix you up, but first we need to find someplace to hide you."

Toothless' ears perked up, happy that his new Viking hatchling no longer wanted to send him away. He nuzzled Hiccup's chest in delight.

Hiccup laughed and gave him a good scratch. "Okay, okay, I know you're happy bud, but we need to focus. We need to find some place for you to stay so no one will find you. And I think I know just the place."

When Hiccup was just seven years old, he had run away from home for the first time. Stoick was out on chief business, but that wasn't out of the ordinary. In fact, Stoick was usually out chiefing, and Hiccup had gotten used to it a lot over the years. When he was very little, his father would send him to the healer for her to keep an eye on him, but he didn't bother with that anymore. Instead, he'd leave Hiccup by himself and hope he wouldn't get into trouble.

So at seven years of age, Hiccup wandered a lot. Some days he'd go visit Gothi and help her sort herbs. On other days, he'd attempt to get the other children to include him in their games. Most days, however, he went up to Silent Sven's sheep pens. No one really like having Hiccup around. He was clumsy and tended to cause accidents or break things unintentionally. Silent Sven had the same opinion as everyone else, but realized that Hiccup couldn't do much harm just playing with the sheep, and if he was playing with them, he was leaving everyone else alone. He'd given strict silent instructions for the boy not to let any of the sheep out of the pen and then left him alone with the woolly animals.

On this particular day though, Hiccup wasn't alone. Snotlout had followed him up to the sheep pens, waiting until Silent Sven left to come out. Hiccup was playing with the single black sheep when he heard Snotlout approach. He sauntered up to the fence, footfalls loud as always, and sneered at Hiccup.

"Hello Snotlout," Hiccup said, trying to be polite and not give the older boy a reason to punch him. His bruise from last week had only just faded.

Snotlout ignored his greeting. "Well, just look at you, up here playing with the sheep all by yourself. How _boring_."

Hiccup shrugged, giving the sheep a scratch behind the ear. "I like playing with them."

"Of course you do."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiccup asked, genuinely confused as to what his cousin was getting at.

"Well, you're not a real Viking or anything, so of course you don't get to hang out with the rest of us. That means you get stuck playing with a bunch of stupid sheep."

"They're not stupid," Hiccup protested, "and of course I'm a real Viking."

Snotlout scoffed. "Uh, no you're not."

"Snotlout, my dad is the chief, what else would I be?"

"The runt, too useless to do anything but play with stupid farm animals."

"Am not!" Hiccup protested, raising his voice enough to startle the sheep in front of him.

"Are too!" Snotlout yelled back. Then, he lifted the latch on the gate and whistled loudly.

Hiccup tried to call the sheep back into the pen, but they wouldn't listen to him. They fled, every last one of them, and with them went his chances of ever getting to play with them again. Snotlout laughed as tears welled in Hiccup's eyes.

Snotlout sauntered off before Silent Sven came back, and when he did, Hiccup was scolded silently and then brought before his father who scolded him some more.

"Son, what I'm I supposed to do with you? I can't even let you watch the sheep without getting into trouble!" Stoick rubbed his temples. He always did this after one of Hiccup's mess-ups, like his son was just one big headache.

Hiccup wanted to defend himself, to tell his father that he hadn't done anything this time, that it was Snotlout who had let the sheep out, but he didn't. He kept his gaze trained on the floor with tears still leaking out of the corners of his eyes because, no matter what he said, his father wouldn't believe he hadn't caused the trouble. When Stoick left the house to help search for the missing sheep, Hiccup left too, but he ran into the forest.

Stoick didn't like for children to wander the woods, especially by themselves, because it was dangerous. There were all kinds of wild animals lurking about; there might even be wild dragons. He really didn't like Hiccup wandering the woods because everything that was dangerous for the other children seemed to carry increased risks for his son. But when Hiccup ran into the woods that day, he didn't remember a single one of his father's warnings to stay away from the forest. He could only remember all of his father's disappointed sighs and reprimands.

Hiccup cried as conflict raged in his seven-year-old mind. On one hand, he didn't want to be lonely. He wanted to play with the other Viking children and make friends. But that never worked. No matter how many times he tried, they rejected him, if for no other reason than because he was so small. On the other hand, Hiccup wanted nothing more than to be left alone. He was done spending all of his time surround by people who disliked him and saw him as nothing more than a burden. With these thoughts swirling round and round in the young boy's head, he continued to run. He ran until he could no longer hear the sounds of the village behind him and then kept running.

Eventually, his running led him to a cove. There was a little lake and several shade trees. The whole scene was quiet and secluded. He walked around it several times before finally finding an entrance. There were some rocks that he had to climb over and others he had to go behind to get in, but it was worth it. Hiccup smiled wide because this was the solution to his problem. He could be around everyone at the village and try to make friends, but when that became too much, he had a place he could run to, a place he could be himself.

Hiccup had stayed in the cove for several hours that day before returning home to find that no one had noticed his absence. He returned to the cove many more times over the years, seeing it as a safe haven. Now, it would serve the same purpose for his injured friend. The young Viking beckoned Toothless to follow him until they reached the cove. Coincidently, it wasn't too far from where the Night Fury crashed into the earth. Hiccup showed Toothless how to enter the cove and then brought him over to the little lake so he could clean the wound on his tail. Of course, this led to a playful splashing match which ended in Hiccup being completely drench and Toothless laughing at him. It was a strange laugh, coming from deep in his throat and almost seeming to echo as it exited his mouth, but Hiccup loved it. He'd made his new friend laugh with joy, instead of having someone laugh at him. It was a wonderful feeling.

Hiccup waded out of the water and shook his head to dispel some of the water. Then, he turned to the Night Fury who was watching him intently.

"Toothless, I need to go back to the village get you some medicine for your tail."

Hiccup was worried that making a friend that wasn't human would make communication difficult, but so far Toothless had understood everything he was saying, and he wasn't happy to hear that Hiccup was leaving. He quickly bounded out of the water and nuzzled against the boy's chest.

Hiccup sighed and gave him a hug. "I'm coming right back bud, I promise. I just need to get the medicine for your tail. It'll heal it quicker and make sure you don't get sick. Please, Toothless? I promise I will only be gone a bit. Besides, why would I abandon the only friend I've ever really had?"

Toothless seemed satisfied with what he was saying and gave him a big slobbery lick before letting him go on his way. Hiccup protested the action, declaring it was absolutely disgusting, but nothing could argue with the pure joy on his face as he left the cove.

Toothless watched his boy go, sure that he would come back. The Night Fury knew it was crazy, befriending and playing with a Viking, but he really couldn't see the fault in it. His boy, Hiccup, wasn't like any of the others. He had freed him instead of killing him. And he was so much smaller than any of the other Vikings he had seen. He was definitely a hatchling, and a small one at that. But it seemed his hatchling wasn't getting taken care of back at his home. Hiccup was injured, and Toothless didn't like that. His boy was only small and fragile and obviously needed someone to take care of him. Toothless would do that; he would take care of Hiccup better than anyone else could. That was a promise.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiccup ran back to the village as fast as he could, not wanting to leave his newfound friend alone for long. Trees passed by in a blur and Hiccup tripped over more than a few of their roots in his rush. Still, the scratches on his palms didn't deter him. He had one thing on his mind, and that was helping Toothless. Well, that and getting something for his arm. After Toothless had licked it, the pain had subsided somewhat, but falling on it several times on his way back to the village had caused it to flare up again and start throbbing.

Once he neared the village, he slowed down. The goal of this trip was to slip in and out without being noticed. Hopefully, this would be a dismissive kind of day where everyone on Berk just wrote him off, instead of a 'let's blame all of our problems on Hiccup' kind of day. If it was the latter and he was seen, there'd be no way for him to get back to Toothless today.

Hiccup snuck up to a house at the edge of the village, eyes roaming over all the Vikings in his sight. It seemed there was a lot more damage done in the previous night's raid than Hiccup had been aware. Men and women alike were carrying lumber and tools from house to house. Others worked on rebuilding and repairing. Sometimes it was just a new door or porch. Other times it was patching holes in a roof or clearing away piles of ashes to start construction anew on a home that had been completely demolished. With everyone this busy, it would be fairly easy for the Viking boy to remain unnoticed.

Hiccup moved as silently as he could, hiding behind the houses on the edge of the village. In little time, he was at the healer's house. He crept over to the window at the back and peered in. Gothi stood by the shelves that lined the walls, her staff in one hand and herbs in the other. Her hut was extremely organized. Everything was labeled for easy access; if she needed someone to run and fetch something for her, they'd be able to find it. When he was younger, Hiccup had spent a lot of time helping Gothi sort all of her herbs and flowers into their baskets and jars. Now, he spent more time in the forge with Gobber heating metal and designing new inventions. Still, on some days he missed the calming medicinal smell and quiet work environment at Gothi's. _Calming_ and _quiet_ were never used in the same sentence as _Gobber_.

With Gothi in her hut, Hiccup had a problem. Though she liked him well enough, she wouldn't just let him take anything; Gothi would only give him what he needed. She'd give him some wrappings for his arm, but that would never be enough bandages for Toothless' tail too. Plus, there was no way she'd give him the herbs he would need to treat the wound on the dragon's tail where the fin had been torn off. Hiccup slumped down to sit in the dirt and think.

He had some bandages back at his hut for the occasional (he liked believing they were occasional) clumsy accident or bullying incident. There was enough there for his wrist. But the supplies for Toothless? That would have to come from Gothi's hut. Hiccup peered in the window, seeking out what he would need. Maybe he could reach some of it from the window and grab it when she had her back turned? Not his best plan, but it would have to do if she didn't leave. Patience was something he had in abundance though, unlike most Vikings, so he was perfectly content to wait for a bit to see if an opportunity would present itself.

Less than ten minutes later, Gobber ran inside. "We need some 'elp Gothi," the blacksmith said. "We were patchin' the roof on the Ingerman's hut when one of the boards fell and hit Mulch on the head. He's out cold."

Faster than a woman her age should be able to move, she had grabbed her medicine bag and staff and was out the door, leaving Gobber to chase after her.

Though sad it came it Mulch's expense, Hiccup took this opportunity to slip into Gothi's hut and grab the supplies he'd need for Toothless' tail. With his experience from helping her in the past combined with the observations he'd made whenever she treated his various injuries, he was able to know what he needed. And thanks to Gothi's organizational habits, he was able to find everything quickly and get out in no time. After leaving her hut, he again snuck along the edge of the village until he reached his own house. With all of the repairs being made in the village, Hiccup wasn't worried about his father being home. As quickly as he could, he went upstairs to his room, grabbed the wrappings for his arm and his bag to carry it all in, and left.

Getting back to Toothless seemed to take a lot longer than leaving him had. Though, that was probably down to his eagerness to see his new friend and begin righting his wrongs. Taking care of the wound on his tail wouldn't be difficult unless medicine for humans didn't work on dragons. It was possible, but Hiccup was hoping that wouldn't be the case. The real struggle would be figuring out how to help him fly again. That was something he'd have to think on.

Hiccup's thoughts were so focused on Toothless that he almost didn't notice the other teens in the woods ahead of him until it was almost too late. As soon as he realized what he'd been about to walk into, he ducked behind the biggest tree he could find and began eavesdropping.

"Ugh," Tuffnut groaned with his usual dramatic flair, "why are we being tortured so?"

"We're not being tortured Tuff; stop being so overdramatic," Astrid said.

"Feels like torture to me…" Ruffnut muttered.

"This is important work," Fishlegs tried explaining. "You heard Stoick. If they don't finish all of the houses today, some of the Viking families will have to stay in the Great Hall tonight. It's up to us to gather the firewood since the adults are doing the repairs."

There was a chuckle, most definitely from Snotlout. "It's only important to you because there's a huge hole in your house and you're too scared to sleep in it. What, are you worried a dragon will climb in through the ceiling while you're sleeping and eat you up?" He chuckled again. "If you're so scared of dragons, why are you with us now? You known there could be wild dragons lurking in these woods."

Hiccup had to bite back his own laugh. Snotlout didn't know how close he was to being correct. Except, Toothless didn't seem like the kind of dragon to lurk. It was more likely he'd be playfully romping through the woods at the first sign of Hiccup.

Fishlegs huffed. "I'm not _scared_ of the dragons," he insisted. "It's just always good to keep your guard up. You can never be too careful."

There was no talking for a moment, just the sounds of them walking through the grass and picking up wood to burn. Leaves began to rustle and Hiccup swore he could feel Fishlegs' fear. Then the twins roared loudly, startling a few birds in the process. Fishlegs screamed as the wood he'd gathered clattered to the ground. The twins and Snotlout laughed loudly at Fishlegs' expense. Hiccup wanted to jump to his defense, but what could he do? They would just turn on him instead and he needed to get back to Toothless.

All three of the troublemakers yelped in pain as Hiccup heard someone whack them with something. It sounded like a branch.

"Would you knuckleheads cut it out?" Astrid reprimanded. "We have work to do! Besides, Fishlegs is right. It's good to always be vigilant. You never know when danger is just around the corner."

"We do when Hiccup is around!" Snotlout exclaimed.

Tuffnut agreed. "Yeah! Hiccup and disaster go together like Gobber and the smell of rotting fish."

"Does he ever bathe?" Ruffnut asked.

There was silence, so Hiccup could only assume Tuff shrugged in response.

Astrid sighed. "Come on, we need to bring this load back to the Great Hall so we can get some more."

Hiccup crouched down to the base of the tree to allow the bushes to help conceal him. The other teens marched by without noticing him, but Hiccup didn't dare come out of hiding until they were completely out of sight. As much as he hated to admit it, their words hurt. They were right though. Hiccup was clumsy and it seemed that he had a knack for attracting catastrophe. But it wasn't his fault! It's not like he asked to be a walking failure; it seemed that he just couldn't help it.

With a much heavier heart than he'd had moments ago, he continued to the cove by Raven's Point.

}!{

Toothless was very excited to see Hiccup when he returned. The small Viking teen climbed down to his new friend and the dragon eagerly butted his head against Hiccup's hand, asking to be scratched. Hiccup laughed at the Night Fury's antics, but gave his scales a good scratch nonetheless.

"Hey bud," Hiccup laughed, "I haven't been gone that long. But it's nice to see you too!"

Toothless purred loudly, the sound rumbling up from deep in his chest. Hiccup smiled and reached back into his bag, pulling out the supplies he'd gathered for Toothless' tail.

"Look what I brought back, bud! Now I can start fixing up your tail."

He was expecting the black dragon to be excited at the prospect of fixing his tail. What he wasn't expecting was for Toothless to protest. He crouched down low, ear flaps back against his head, as he glared at the bandages.

Hiccup frowned. "Toothless, don't be ridiculous. This will make you feel better, I promise." Hiccup stepped towards him, bandages still in hand, and the Night Fury leapt away from him. Now the Viking was getting concerned. He couldn't help Toothless if the dragon wouldn't let him.

He tried again, gentler this time. "What's the matter bud? I'm just trying to help you." Hiccup tried approaching the Night Fury again, but he just bounded away like before. Sighing, the Viking put the bandages back into his satchel. Then he sat cross-legged in the grass and waited for the stubborn dragon to come to him. He didn't have to wait long, thankfully. Soon enough, Toothless came over and nudged Hiccup with his head.

"I don't understand why you're being so difficult. The sooner we fix your tail, the sooner we get you back in the air. I'm sure you miss flying." With Toothless closer, Hiccup tried reaching for the bandages again, but the dragon nudged his hand away.

Hiccup frowned, still not understanding. "It's like you don't want me to help you. I just don't get it." The Viking boy reached out to pet him, but Toothless dodged his hand. Instead, the Night Fury nipped at Hiccup's sleeve with his pink gums. It pulled back a little to reveal his still bruised wrist. Finally, it clicked.

"You-You want me to go first?" Hiccup asked. Toothless responded with a gentle croon and a soft nudge. Hiccup reached for the bandages again and was pleased to find that Toothless wasn't stopping him. Carefully, he wrapped his arm one-handed. It was a bit tricky and pretty uncomfortable, but he managed to get the job done. Then, he turned his attention to Toothless.

The dragon had completely calmed down, and when Hiccup grabbed the second set of bandages, he didn't pull away. Moments ago, Hiccup had been growing frustrated at the Night Fury's stubborn antics. Now, Hiccup couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face as happiness welled up inside of him. Once again, Toothless had warmed his heart by being such a great friend.

Hiccup moved to Toothless' tail and began coating it generously with the medicine. Once a decent amount had been applied, he wrapped it securely with the bandages. During the entire process, Toothless stayed perfectly still and well-behaved. Hiccup was grateful, as it made the whole thing a lot easier. When finished, he smiled at Toothless and his friend smiled back. Hiccup was no expert healer, but he was pretty proud of his handiwork.

If their saliva had healing properties, it was also likely that dragons were capable of healing much quicker than humans. That was Hiccup's theory at least. "Okay Toothless," he said, "your tail shouldn't take too long to heal, but you need to be careful with it until then. Understand?" Toothless just butted his head against Hiccup's hand, asking to be scratched again. The teen rolled his eyes, but complied with the wishes of his friend.

Not wanting to go back to the village and chance an altercation with the other teens, Hiccup decided to spend the rest of the day in the cove. Toothless curled up comfortably on the grass and Hiccup decided to sit with him. Leaning against his scales, he noticed how warm his friend really was. He'd always assumed that dragons, because they were scaly and supposedly heartless beasts, were also cold. This was definitely not the case. Toothless was warm and it made Hiccup feel safe. The Viking teen pulled his journal and charcoal out of the little pocket in his vest. He had work to do if Toothless was ever going to fly again. Sketching the tailfin was quite easy; it was the measurements that were the problem. Technically, he could work with approximations and measure using his hands. However, that wouldn't be nearly as accurate as if he had his measuring tape, and he wanted to do it right. Toothless deserved only the best fitting tailfin, and that's what he was going to get.

Once he had the basic tailfin sketch that he could add measurements to later, he moved onto designing something else. A saddle. Now, he wasn't completely sure Toothless would want him to ride on his back, and if that was the case then he wouldn't, but as Hiccup imagined soaring high above Berk with nothing but him and his new best friend, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. He drew the saddle just in case.

Eventually Hiccup noticed the sun beginning to set and he realized that he had to leave. He rose to his feet and stretched his hands high over his head to hear a satisfying pop in his back. While Toothless was comfortable, the ground was not.

Hiccup smiled sadly at Toothless, "I've got to go bud, but I'll be back tomorrow. I promise."

Toothless looked up at him with wide green eyes and crooned sadly. Hiccup scratched his scales affectionately before giving into the urge to hug his scaly friend. When he let go, Toothless gave him one final nudge before he left for the Village.

}!{

The sky was dark, the sun having fully sunken beneath the horizon, and Hiccup stood outside his house. Slouching with exhaustion, he would have liked nothing more than to get some sleep after the harrowing twenty-four hours he'd just had. But still, he couldn't bring himself to enter his home. He'd shot down a Night Fury today. He hadn't killed it. In fact, he'd let it go. He'd become friends with it even! Obviously, he couldn't tell his father, but he couldn't help but think of what the chief's reaction would be if he did. Stoick would be furious; he absolutely _despised_ dragons. His father would probably never speak to him again. Maybe he'd even disown him. Hiccup wasn't sure he'd blame him. Vikings were supposed to be strong and stubborn. The one thing everyone in the Berk agreed on was fighting dragons, and Hiccup had failed miserably. With all of that swirling around in his head and weighing heavily on his shoulders, the last thing Hiccup wanted to do was go inside, but he couldn't stay outside forever. Might as well get it over with.

Hiccup pushed open his front door and was quite surprised to find his father packing. "What's going on Dad?" he asked.

Stoick looked up. "Ah, Hiccup! I - uh… we need to talk."

Hiccup's stomach churned. His father couldn't have found out about Toothless. Could he? "Sure," he said, trying to act casual. "What is it?"

The towering chief cleared his throat. "Well son, I was talking to Gobber today. As you know, dragon training starts first thing in the morning and we've decided it's about time you learn to fight the fire-breathing beasts."

Hiccup swallowed nervously. This was the _last_ thing he wanted to deal with today. "But… I don't think I'm ready." _Good thinking Hiccup_ , he thought to himself, _try to change his mind_.

"That's the point!" Stoick said, growing a bit louder. Hiccup struggled not to cower at his booming voice. "You're completely unprepared to deal with dragons! If a raid were to happen tomorrow, would you be able to protect yourself? Honestly, I'm surprised you've not been killed by your incompetence." Hiccup tried to ignore the hurt he felt at his father's words. He wasn't successful; Stoick saw it on Hiccup's face. The chief took a breath to calm himself before trying again.

"Hiccup, as the chief of this village, it's my job to be concerned about the safety of my people. But as your father, I worry about you especially. I can't always be right there to protect you and the last thing I want is for you to get hurt or worse. I lost your mother to those monsters; I won't lose you too. Now, I'm not asking for you to become the best dragon slayer Berk has ever seen. I'm just asking for you to learn to defend yourself properly. It's what your mother would have wanted."

Stoick rarely talked about his wife, and the village didn't like to bring her up, so Hiccup hardly ever heard about his mother. Of course, he'd heard of how she'd been carried off by dragons when he was just a babe, but hearing his father talk about it? He couldn't help the way his throat felt a little tight and his eyes began to shine.

"Okay Dad," Hiccup said, "I'll try my best."

Stoick smiled. "There's a good boy." He grabbed the bag he'd been packing and slung it onto his back. "I'm leading one last search for the dragon's nest before the ice sets in. Train hard while I'm gone. I'll be back in a couple of weeks. Probably." And then he was gone.

Hiccup watched as the door swung shut behind him. When a single tear rolled down his cheek, he didn't bother to brush it away. Instead, he made his way up the stairs to his room, flopped down on his bed, and closed his eyes. Yes, it really had been a long day.


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Hiccup noticed when he woke was how normal the morning seemed. Birds sweetly chirped their morning songs outside his window as they began their day. Peaking out over the distant horizon, the sun began its climb into the endless blue sky. Its early morning light bathed the hut overlooking the village in its rich glow. Stoick the Vast was not home to break this peaceful picture. However, this too was more normal than when the chief was home in the morning, and as much as Hiccup was ashamed to admit it, he liked these mornings better. They allowed him to avoid the painfully awkward silence that occurred when father and son were at a loss for communicating with each other.

Yes, the morning was quite typical; nature behaved as always and peacefulness enveloped the house like usual. Even the bandage on Hiccup arm was ordinary occurrence (even though he hated to admit it). Everything felt _normal_. And yet, everything was so very different. Just the previous day, he'd shot down and befriended the Unholy Offspring of Lightning and Death itself. Today, he was to start dragon training- training that was supposed to teach him how to kill the very friend he'd just made.

Lying in bed, Hiccup was dreading going to the arena. All of the other teens would be there and he could only imagine what could go wrong. New insults? New bruises? Hell, maybe they'd push him in front of a dragon and get him eaten (that is, if he didn't manage to get himself eaten first). Honestly, if it wasn't for Toothless, Hiccup would consider calling in sick and just staying in bed all day. Doing that wasn't an option, though. Back in the cove, Toothless would be waiting for him and Hiccup refused to make his new friend wait. Throwing back the blankets, the Viking teen rose from his bed. He dressed and grabbed his satchel, slipping his journal, charcoal, and measuring tape into it. Then, he was rushing down the stairs and out the door.

Many people thought of Hiccup as clumsy, and those people would definitely be right. However, since they were so focused on his clumsy nature, they often failed to notice just how fast he could be. After all, he had to be quick if he wanted to evade his bullies. Escaping his tormentors often led him to flee to the woods where he could be alone in peace. Sometimes he'd wander the maze of trees for hours before finally making his way home.

Quick, clumsy, and very familiar with the woods, Hiccup could stumble his way through them faster than most people could with steady feet. He also knew the quickest way to get to Raven's Point. Beginning to move faster, Hiccup smiled eagerly; Toothless was waiting for him.

}!{

As soon as the sun had risen in the sky, Toothless was awake. After the previous day he'd had, he could have slept for a lot longer. However, he didn't know what time his human was going to show up and he wanted to be awake when the Viking hatchling arrived. So the dragon laid out in the dew covered grass, hearing focused and eyesight sharp, waiting for Hiccup.

The gentle sunlight warmed his scales comfortably and he practically purred at the feeling. Though Toothless was currently unable to fly, he was fairly content. After all, he'd made a new friend, and Hiccup had promised to fix his tail and make him fly again. While optimistic, the dragon was not naïve. He knew that restoring his flight would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, but he also knew that Hiccup would try his hardest, and that was good enough for Toothless.

Before waiting too long, the Night Fury picked up on the sounds of rustling greenery and hurried footfalls. His large ear flaps perked up in excitement. His human was coming! As happy as he was about just seeing Hiccup, he really had something else on his mind: food. Catching food is hard if you can't fly, and Toothless was getting hungry. He was hoping the boy would bring him something to eat. As the young Viking drew nearer, the dragon eagerly hopped to his feet and moved to wait by the cove's entrance. It only took a moment for Hiccup to make the climb down, and his green eyes lit up when he saw Toothless waiting for him.

"Hey bud! Did you miss me?" He asked.

Toothless responded by giving him a big slobbery lick on the face.

"Yuck!" Hiccup exclaimed as he began trying to get the goop off his skin and hair. "That's disgusting!"

The Night Fury laughed deep in his throat and the sound of it was enough to put a smile on the boy's face. Hiccup's smile only grew larger when he remembered the main purpose of his visit.

"I have a surprise for you," Hiccup told Toothless, looking away from the dragon to root through his bag for his measuring tape. He stopped in surprise when he heard a low rumbling growl coming from the dragon. Shock and confusion seized the young Viking and he froze.

Had he angered his friend somehow? Was Toothless mad at him? Hiccup felt sadness wash over him at the possibility that he might have already ruined this new friendship somehow. Slowly, Hiccup looked up from his bag, and what he saw just furthered his confusion. Toothless didn't look angry at all; his ear flaps were raised high and his pupils were still large, giving him a playful expression.

Surprisingly, Toothless' innocent appearance only caused Hiccup more worry. If the growl hadn't come from Toothless, then it had to have come from somewhere else. A wild dragon lurking nearby? Nervously, Hiccup's eyes surveyed the cove and the trees surrounding the top. He didn't _see_ any wild dragons (unless Toothless counted), and besides, if there was an angry dragon in the vicinity, he didn't believe Toothless would be so calm, especially if Hiccup was in danger. So that ruled out the wild dragon theory. But then what else could it be? Just as Hiccup began to consider new possibilities, he heard it again. A low, soft, rumbling growl. Now that the young Viking was listening closely, he realized it didn't sound like a dragon at all.

Hiccup turned to face his friend again. "Toothless," he began, "are you hungry?"

Right on cue, the dragon's stomach rumbled again. The Night Fury looked down and glared at it before peering sheepishly up at Hiccup. At first the teen began to laugh at the look on Toothless' face, but he quickly sobered when he reexamined the situation. Toothless' stomach was growling because he was hungry. He was hungry because he couldn't fly to properly catch food. He couldn't fly because Hiccup had shot him down and crippled him. The boy grew somber when he realized his friend was stuck in the cove starving and it was entirely his fault. He hadn't even bothered to bring Toothless any fish for Thor's sake! He was a horrible friend.

Hiccup walked over to Toothless and wrapped his arms around his neck in a hug. "I'm really sorry bud. I didn't bring any food with me today, but I promise I'll bring a whole basket of fish tomorrow! For now, how about we catch you some?"

The boy pulled back to gauge his friend's reaction and the dragon gave him a big slobbery lick to let him know he was forgiven. Hiccup smiled, too happy to bother complaining about the sticky salvia running down his face. He simply wiped it off with his sleeve and began putting his plan into action.

Dragons usually hunt and catch fish from the air, swooping down on their prey with ease. Having to catch their food from the ground takes away their element of surprise and makes the act more difficult, especially for a very hungry dragon that might not be performing at the top of their game. However, Hiccup was confident that together they could get some breakfast for the Night Fury.

"Wait here bud," Hiccup told Toothless before running around to the opposite side of the little pond in the cove. The dragon stayed where the human told him, waiting to see just what plan the boy had concocted.

Hiccup crouched at the edge of the water and gave Toothless a mischievous smile. "Alright," he yelled, "get read to catch some fish!" And the young Viking leapt into the water, yelling and splashing about excitedly. All the fish in the pond noticed the commotion and fled in the opposite direction – right towards Toothless, who eagerly awaited their arrival with his mouth wide open. He gobbled up as many as he could as quickly as he could before sitting back with a content look on his face.

Hiccup emerged from the pond absolutely drenched. His saturated clothes clinging to his slight frame while water droplets fell from his hair like a small rain shower. A cold wind blew through the cove, a signal that winter was fast approaching, and Hiccup's teeth began to chatter loudly. Despite the chill he now felt crawling over his body, he was overjoyed. Toothless was no longer hungry and Hiccup had righted the wrong caused by his neglect.

Toothless was not at pleased, however. Though he had eaten and was physically feeling much better, the Night Fury noticed Hiccup's body shivering and his teeth chattering. The Night Fury knew enough about humans to know that this could cause problems for them, especially ones as small as Hiccup. Determined to warm up his hatchling, Toothless walked over to him, nudged him towards the part of the cove that was in direct sunlight, and he lay on the ground like he had earlier that morning. Hiccup got the message and curled up next to him, enjoying not only the warmth of the sun, but also the gentle heat radiating from his friend.

They stayed like that for a while, the beat of the dragon's strong heart soothing Hiccup like a lullaby and almost putting him to sleep several times. However, as the sun continued its climb, the time for dragon training grew nearer and Hiccup's heart began to sink. If it was up to him, he'd stay in the cove with Toothless forever, but his father wanted him at dragon training and if he didn't show Gobber would come looking for him. He definitely couldn't risk that, so he quickly took the measurements needed to construct the prosthetic tail fin, made notes of them in his journal, and said goodbye to his friend, promising he'd be back the next morning.

}!{

As Hiccup approached the dragon killing ring, he noticed the other teens were already present and eagerly waiting for Gobber to arrive. The sight caused knots to form in Hiccup's stomach. This was the place he would learn to kill dragons, and if they were anything at all like Toothless, he couldn't – _wouldn't_ – do it. Ever. His father would just have to learn to accept that. The presence of the other Viking teens didn't make the situation any better either. These were his peers, the people that had ostracized him and singled him out because he wasn't a 'typical Viking'. It wasn't exactly a welcoming environment.

So engulfed in his worry, Hiccup didn't notice Gobber coming up behind him until the burly blacksmith spoke. "Nervous?" He asked.

Hiccup jumped a little at the sound of his voice, but nodded. Gobber was like an uncle to him; if anyone was going to understand how Hiccup was feeling, it was going to be Gobber.

Gobber chuckled at the boy, but laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Your father isn't expectin' you to become the next great Viking hero; all he asks is that you learn to defend yourself. He worries about you a lot, you know."

"I know," Hiccup sighed, "and it's not just my dad I'm worried about." He eyed the teens in the ring warily.

"You look more afraid of them than you do the dragons!" Gobber joked. _You have no idea_ , Hiccup thought. The blacksmith continued, "You really don't need to worry 'bout them either. Just as you're here for your dad, they're here to make their parents proud and do right by the tribe."

Hiccup hadn't thought about it from that perspective before, but it didn't really make him feel any better. Their words and actions had hurt him on too many occasions for him to believe that dragon training with them would be anything less than a disaster. He didn't really have a choice though.

Gobber gave Hiccup a not-so-gentle shove toward the arena. There wasn't malice behind it, it's just that Vikings don't particularly do _anything_ gently. Stumbling forward, Hiccup took one last longing glance towards the woods, wishing he could have stayed with Toothless this morning. As soon as he entered the arena, all eyes were on him, conveying varying levels of annoyance and confusion.

"Who let Hiccup in here?" Snotlout grumbled.

"Oh my Thor!" Tuffnut exclaimed, not bothering to answer him.

Ruffnut's eyes went wide. "You're alive?"

They both rushed over to Hiccup and proceeded to poke him. He swatted their hands away in annoyance.

"Of course I'm alive. Why wouldn't I be?" He asked, more than a little confused.

"Well," began Fishlegs, "no one has seen you since the dragon raid. Some people were wondering if you'd been carried off or eaten."

"Some people being those idiots over there," Astrid said, pointing to both the twins and Snotlout. "Not all of us were dumb enough to believe the rumors."

"Really?" Hiccup felt his heart swell a little with hesitant pride. Did Astrid have faith that he could take care of himself?

"Duh," she rolled her eyes. "If you had died, Stoick would have made some kind of announcement."

And his small sense of pride shriveled up before it ever really had a chance to grow.

Gobber strode into the arena behind Hiccup and ordered all the teens into a line. "Listen up you lot," he began. "Today, you begin training to take your rightful place as full members of Hooligan Tribe. It is in this arena that you will learn to fight dragons and survive. I'll teach you to evade, entrap, confuse, maim, and kill the flying beasts. By the time you're through with your training, you'll be able to fight proudly alongside the adult members of the tribe."

The other teens smiled enthusiastically, eager for the image Goober placed in their heads to become a reality. They bounced on the balls of their feet, anticipating the adrenaline that would one day pump through their veins as the winged beasts attacked their village and set homes on fire. They'd be promoted from the fire brigade, trading their pails of water for swords, maces, and axes.

Hiccup stood at the end of the row of teens, watching the excitement on their faces and feeling nothing but disgust. Before the last raid, he'd been just like them, eager for blood and wanting to make a name for himself. Since he'd met Toothless, it was difficult for him to understand why he had ever wanted that. Now all he wanted was to go back into the woods and hang out with his new scaly friend.

"As for today," Gobber continued, "we start out small. Can anyone tell me what the most important thing is in a dragon fight?"

"An axe?" Snotlout asked, his eyes wandered over to the wall of weapons at the edge of the ring and settled upon the large axe gleaming in the sunlight.

"A doctor?" Hiccup joked, fully understanding that while he wasn't willing to hurt the dragons, that didn't mean they wouldn't want to hurt him.

Astrid rolled her eyes at both of their answers. "A shield." It wasn't a question.

"Correct Astrid! It's good to pair it with a weapon, as Snotlout suggested, but your number one priority should be a shield. Everybody, go grab one." He gestured to the rack of shields next to the one of weapons.

The twins took off first, racing over to one painted with skulls. They argued and fought for a moment, before Ruff struck him over the head with it. Tuff ended up settling for the one next to it that was painted with flowers. Snotlout grabbed the shiniest one he could find and smiled at his reflection in the boss. The other three teens just picked random ones and headed back to where Gobber was waiting for them.

"Today, you're not lookin' to kill, you're lookin' to learn. Understand?" The teens nodded in response. "Now I said we're startin' off small, so today I introduce you to," he paused and pushed down on the lever near the metal door on the wall, "the _Terrible Terror_."

The door began rising slowly, and they could hear the metal gears churning ominously. Before it could get much high than their knees, however, a small green shape darted out of the shadows so quickly it was hard to see. But when they did, Tuffnut was the first to break the silence.

"Are you kidding me?" He laughed, lowering his shield. "I'm supposed to be afraid of that? It's like the size of my-" He didn't get to finish before it lunged right at his face. He yelped twice, the first one of surprise and the second of pain. It wasn't a sharp pain, but he wasn't pleased to feel the creature biting down on his nose.

"Help!" He yelled, "Get it off, get it off!"

His sister ran over to smack it off his face with her shield, but it darted away before she could make contact and ended up striking him in the face instead. "Whoops," she laughed.

It ran to Fishlegs next and skittered up his leg. He screamed and proceeded to run around the area with his hands in the air. When he ran by Snotlout, the dragon flapped over to land on his back. The dark haired teen spun in circles, trying to fling it off.

"Can anyone tell me what it's doing?" Gobber asked, not passing up the chance to teach his pupils a lesson.

"It's trying to kill us!" Tuff yelled, rubbing his very red and very sore nose.

Gobber just rolled his eyes.

The more Hiccup watched the Terrible Terror, the more it looked like it was playing and teasing them. As Snotlout kept spinning in circles, Hiccup swore he could hear the little dragon laughing. It was actually kind of cute.

"It's switching targets to make it harder for us to attack," Astrid said. Her eyes hadn't left the little green fellow since he'd been let out and her stance was battle ready. Hiccup had to fight the urge to tell her to loosen up. It's not like the Terror was going to kill them.

"Very good Astrid," Gobber commended. "It moves quickly, so never let it out of your sight. It could sneak up on you without you even knowing it's there."

Snotlout, now too dizzy to stand, toppled to the ground and the Terrible Terror moved on. It ran to Hiccup next, crawling up his leg much like it had done with Fishlegs. It kept going, circling around his stomach a few times. A laugh burst from behind his lips, one he couldn't hold back. The little guy's claws didn't hurt, in fact, they tickled. Finally, the Terror came to rest on his shoulder. It sniffed at his hair for a moment before chittering happily and nuzzling the side of his face. He wasn't sure what about his scent made this dragon so happy, but he was glad it did. Hiccup smiled at the little guy's actions and gave him a little scratch behind the ear.

For a moment, he forgot where he was. Or he did until someone's shield clattered noisily to the ground. He snapped out of his reverie and looked around. Everyone was staring at him, jaws dropped and eyes wide. Even Astrid had dropped her shield and stared in disbelief.

Hiccup had to bite back a nervous chuckle. He wasn't quite sure what to say to talk his way out of this situation. He'd heard everyone say time and time again that dragons were killers, and here he was petting one. They probably thought he was going crazy. So instead of speaking, he simply grabbed the Terrible Terror off his shoulder and set it on the ground in front of him. It cocked it head to the side and peered at him curiously.

Hiccup sighed and gestured back to its cage. "Go on," he said.

The Terror hesitated for a moment, but then went just like he'd asked. When Hiccup looked at the other Vikings in the arena, they looked even more surprised than they had a moment ago. At a loss for what to do, he took off. He could hear them whispering as he fled the arena.

}!{

Hiccup found solace at the forge. After all, he needed to get started on Toothless' tail fin. It wasn't going to build itself. He had just begun the process of lighting the forge when Gobber barged in.

"There you are Hiccup!"

"Here I am." Hiccup chuckled nervously, turning to face his mentor. "Did you need something?"

"I wanted to talk to you after trainin' today, but you took off so fast that I didn't get the chance."

The young Viking just shrugged. "Well, there are only so many hours in a day and I've got a new invention I've been dying to work on." Hiccup was glad he was able to tell a partial truth. He hated lying to Gobber, and it wasn't the blacksmith's fault he was being forced into dragon training.

"Oh really?" Gobber asked, scratching his chin. "You're sure it had nothing to do with your behavior during training?"

"M-My behavior?" Hiccup swallowed thickly. He really didn't want to talk about this.

Gobber sighed. "Lad, I've been teaching dragon training for many years now and I've seen a lot of different reactions to facing a dragon for the first time. Sometimes it's aggression, sometimes it's terror. I had one student faint dead away the second I let the dragon out of its cage! But the point is, I've never had anyone react the way you did today."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Hiccup knew what the answer was going to be before he even finished asking the question. Anything different from typical Viking behavior was wrong, especially when dealing with dragons.

"Yes it's a bad thing! Hiccup, we don't _play_ with dragons."

"Come on Gobber, it wasn't doing any harm."

"You're lucky it wasn't. Its claws were by your neck and its teeth were inches from your face. At any second it could have attacked! I understand that Terrible Terrors are small and don't look like much, but you shouldn't underestimate them. You shouldn't underestimate _any_ dragon."

Hiccup turned back around and began trying to light the forge again, wishing he'd ended the conversation sooner. "It won't happen again." Instead of taking his words as a cue to leave, Gobber placed a heavy, calloused hand on his shoulder.

"I know you're not like other Vikings," Gobber sighed. "You see things differently and do things differently. But when it comes to dragons, there is no different way to deal with them. Your mother learned that the hard way."

Hiccup's breath caught roughly in his throat. His mother? No one ever really spoke of his mother, and now she was being brought up for the second time in less than two days? What really hurt was how they were talking about her. It seemed her death was merely a tool Gobber or Stoick could bring up when they wanted Hiccup to do something. It made his chest ache and caused a wave of guilt to rise within him.

Many Vikings met their end while facing dragons, his mother included, and now his best friend was a Night Fury. He'd witnessed the dragons' viciousness during the raids; he'd been on the receiving end of it just the other day, but now he felt like he was missing something. Toothless had been kind to him when not even other Vikings had done so and the Terror in the ring hadn't tried hurting him at all. It hadn't really hurt anyone, even Tuffnut; it just wanted to play. Being raised to think dragons were evil and finding out otherwise was making Hiccup question a lot of things. What had _really_ happened to his mother? Did she simply get carried off like everyone said or was there more to that story? There had to be, he refused to think otherwise. His mind went momentarily blank at the realization.

By the time Hiccup snapped out of his thoughts, Gobber had already left. For a moment, Hiccup wanted to go track him down and demand some more information about his mother. He wouldn't ask about her death, even if part of him wanted to. Instead, he'd ask about her life; no one ever spoke about it. Was she a good cook? Did she like to sing? Did she have any close friends? But the moment passed and Hiccup couldn't bring himself to do it knowing that Gobber wouldn't give him any answers.

So Hiccup decided that he wouldn't think about his mother, his father, or his mentor at that moment. Instead, he focused on his new friend. Toothless was out there in the woods right now, crippled because of something Hiccup had done, and if he didn't create the tailfin, Toothless might never fly again. Hell, he might even _starve_. Hiccup could bring him fish for a while, but eventually people would notice large quantities were going missing. Then what was he supposed to do?

Toothless was his main priority at the moment, and nothing was going to get in the way of that, not even his mother. He struck the flint one more time and watched as the fire in the forge began to grow. Then he pulled out his journal and opened it to the page with the measurements he'd taken that morning. It was time to get to work.


	5. Chapter 5

The smallest hint of sunlight was just beginning to peek over the horizon when Hiccup woke. His eyes burned, there was a painful crick in his back that definitely hadn't been there when he'd fallen asleep, and the soreness in his right wrist was back. Slowly, he sat up, rubbing at his eyes and sighing when his back popped and some of the tension was relieved. For a moment, Hiccup was extremely confused. Why was had he fallen asleep slumped over his desk in the back of the forge instead of in his bed back at home? But then he saw the finished tailfin out of the corner of his eye and it all rushed back.

All afternoon and all night, he'd worked on the invention. When he'd finally finished it, he'd been too tired to stumble back to his house, so he'd fallen asleep where he sat. Even with all the aches he was feeling, he couldn't bring himself to regret working long after the sun had set. If he succeeded in helping Toothless fly again, it would all be worth it.

At this hour of the morning, most of the Vikings were still fast asleep in their beds. Hiccup was grateful because he needed to smuggle the tailfin and some fish to the cove for Toothless. If someone saw him, there would be no way for him to explain why he was carrying a Viking-crafted dragon fin and enough fish to feed an entire Viking family. Carefully, to make sure he wasn't seen, Hiccup snuck out of the forge with the tailfin tucked under his arm and his journal tucked into his vest pocket. Before heading directly to the trees at the edge of the village, the young Viking headed to the storehouse to grab a basket of fish. Then he was off to the cove. Brimming with excitement, he was too distracted to notice the pair of eyes following him as he disappeared into the shadows of the trees.

}!{

Toothless was waiting for him again, and again Hiccup was delighted to see him. In fact, the Night Fury could greet him every day and he would never get tired of it. After giving his dark scales a good scratch, Hiccup set the tailfin by the base of a large rock and dumped the basket of fish on the ground. The dragon's large green eyes lit up and his teeth – his teeth? – snapped into place as he gobbled up the meal. Hiccup's smaller green eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. Teeth? Toothless had retractable teeth?

Hiccup couldn't help but feel like an idiot. How had he missed that? But then again, Toothless had never shown him his teeth before today, probably because he didn't want to frighten the young Viking. The Night Fury seemed to quite like the name he'd been given though, so Hiccup didn't feel too bad.

Once he finished eating, Toothless turned to him with a very pleased look on his face, the kind that comes with a full stomach, and it made Hiccup smile. Toothless retracted his teeth and tried to mimic his smile with his slimy pink gums.

Hiccup laughed at his attempt, finding it absolutely adorable. "You're amazing, you know that bud?"

The dragon crooned happily at his words of praise before realizing that Hiccup had brought more than just fish with him to the cove. He crept over to the teen and sniffed the mostly-leather contraption tucked under his arm.

Hiccup got a little nervous at the attention his invention was receiving. There was no guarantee the tailfin would succeed in restoring his friend's flight, and Hiccup didn't want him to get his hopes up only to have them come crashing back down literally.

"It-It's a new tailfin to help you fly again..." So nervous about his invention, Hiccup didn't realize how excited the Night Fury had gotten until he received a big slobbery lick to the face.

Laughing at his friend's enthusiasm, Hiccup shook the saliva from his face. "Alright, I know you're excited, but hold on a second. We can't try it out until your tail is better, so how about we take a look?"

Eager to comply, Toothless brought his tail around for the boy to look at. With gentle fingers, Hiccup removed the bandages.

"Wow," he breathed. While the wound wasn't fully healed, it looked much better than it had the previous day. The coloring was a healthy pink rather than an angry red, and it was already beginning to close.

"Dragons heal way faster than humans," Hiccup said, once again amazed by the large flying reptiles. "It's not quite ready yet, but I'm going to leave the bandages off. I think that will help it."

Toothless took that as an opportunity to lick his wound, coating it with generous amount of spit. Now, Hiccup was no expert, but he figured that some fresh air and exposure to medicinal dragon saliva couldn't hurt.

Once the Night Fury finished treating his tail, he turned his attention to Hiccup. His boy had gotten hurt the other day, and Toothless wanted to make sure he was healing well. He gave Hiccup's right wrist a gentle nudge with his nose, and the young Viking seemed to understand what he was asking. He rolled up his sleeve and unwrapped his own bandages to reveal the tender flesh underneath. The bruises, purple and blue just the other day, had faded to yellow-green splotches and the swelling was gone. It was still sore, but that was to be expected after working in the forge for hours the previous day.

Toothless gave him a knowing look, one that said I know you haven't been resting this like you should be, and proceeded to lick his injury like he'd done his own. Once he felt he had cared for Hiccup's wrist enough, the boy carefully wrapped it back up.

"You're too good to me," Hiccup said. "I've never had anyone else look after me the way you do, not even my dad. It's… nice." To show the Night Fury his appreciation, he gave Toothless a good scratch under his chin.

"You like that, huh bud?" The dragon leaned into his touch and Hiccup scratched a little to the left –

And Toothless suddenly lay on the ground at his feet, unconscious.

Hiccup dropped to his knees beside him, checking to make sure his friend was okay. It only took him a moment to realize that Toothless was fine, just deeply asleep. The Viking stared at his hands with wide eyes. Had he just brought down a Night Fury on his own, with nothing more than his two hands?

He was fascinated. Of course, he'd never use this knowledge to harm Toothless, but it was still interesting. These creatures that possessed so much strength and fire power could simply be brought down with a well-placed scratch to the chin. He could only imagine how shocked his father would be if he knew such information.

With the sun rising higher in the sky, he didn't have long before he had to return to the village for dragon training. He didn't want to just disappear on Toothless though. What if he woke up to find Hiccup gone and panicked? No, it would be better if he stayed in the cove for a bit longer.

He sat next to Toothless and leaned up against his smooth scales. There was a nice breeze blowing through the cove, rustling his hair. Birds sang as they fluttered overhead. With such a nice day, Hiccup found himself close to falling asleep too. Just as he was about to nod off, Toothless started to stir.

"There you are bud. I was starting to get a little worried."

Toothless blinked at him lazily and then crooned at the sight of his friend.

Hiccup laughed. "I was waiting for you to wake up before I left for training. I didn't want to worry you. But I have to go now, I don't want Gobber to come looking for me if I'm late."

After giving Toothless a quick hug, the young Viking took off.

}!{

Hiccup actually wasn't the last one to training, which surprised him. The twins had gotten distracted in town by a couple of birds and lost track of time, which didn't surprise him. But they were all here now, awaiting an explanation from Gobber on why the arena looked like a maze.

The blacksmith cleared his throat and gestured at the wooden walls with his hook. "The arena is set up today to begin your training against Deadly Nadders. I want everyone to wander into the maze. Once you're all out of sight, I'll release the beast."

"That's it?" Snotlout questioned. "You're just going to let that thing into the arena without giving us any tips? We're all going to die!"

Gobber rolled his eyes. "I will be keeping an eye on everything from above the arena and offering advice is you train. Now get in there you lot, we don't have all day!"

The teens grumbled, but took their places in the maze. Hiccup was feeling pretty nervous. How was he expected to survive down here with both the trapped dragon and the other teens? To be completely honest, he'd rather deal with the dragon. Metal gears began grinding as the Nadder's door was opened and a screech sounded as it burst free. Another screech followed in quick succession, though this one was decidedly more human. It seemed the Deadly Nadder had found Fishlegs. Hiccup took off running in the opposite direction. The Terrible Terror from the previous day hadn't bothered him, but it was small. The Nadder would be taller than Toothless and have way more sharp appendages. He was going to err on the side of caution and run away.

Three turns later, he ran smack into Astrid. "Sorry!" He apologized.

Astrid just sighed. "Be careful and be quiet. We don't want the Nadder finding us."

Hiccup nodded in agreement just as Gobber's voice rang out above the arena. "The Deadly Nadder is a dragon species known for its speed and agility. If you run into it, don't bother running away. Your best chance in find its blind spot and hide in it."

From the other side of the arena, Hiccup could hear the twins bickering. Then there was a blast of fire and a frustrated yell.

"I guess it found Ruff and Tuff." Astrid said, and then she disappeared around a corner. Hiccup thought about following her, thinking that maybe they could evade the Nadder together, but quickly decided against it. She wouldn't want to work with him. He turned in the opposite direction than she had gone and rounded a corner of his own. And it was just his luck that he came face to face with the dragon.

The Nadder was easily taller than Toothless when the Night Fury stood normally. It was a beautiful dragon though. Sky blue scales with yellow accents covered its body. A crown of spikes fanned out from the back of its head. Its large yellow eyes were trained directly on Hiccup. With the dragon watching his every move, he was careful with his movements. Spooking this dragon was the last thing he wanted to do.

From up above, Gobber noticed Hiccup's predicament. "Don't move Hiccup! Hide in the blind spot!" The blacksmith took off from his viewpoint and ran for the gate to the arena.

Hiccup's eyes never left the dragon in front of him. He'd managed to befriend a Night Fury and a Terrible Terror, so why not try with a Deadly Nadder? It seemed like his best chance at survival.

"Well aren't you a beautiful girl?" He asked her. It was quiet enough that the other teens wouldn't hear him, but he knew the dragon would be able to pick up on it with her heightened sense of hearing.

The dragon perked up at his words. He wasn't sure she understood what he was saying, but she seemed to appreciate the calming tone of his voice. Very slowly, Hiccup reached his hand out. He didn't step any closer though, and instead let the dragon to decide if he was safe to approach. The Nadder stretched her neck, bringing her beak-shaped snout near his hand. After sniffing audibly, the look in her yellow eyes softened and her spikes were lowered. She stepped closer to the young Viking, sniffing his tunic and vest, and she seemed to like what she smelled. The Nadder nuzzled against his arm, butting him with her head.

Hiccup laughed softly and rubbed some of the scales on her face. She crooned with pleasure. A frown crossed his face, however, when he realized Gobber was storming down here to his rescue. If Gobber found the Nadder this close to him, the experienced warrior wouldn't hesitate to dispatch the dragon if he thought his apprentice was in danger.

He needed to make them realize the dragon wasn't a threat to him, but he didn't want to hurt her or her feelings. Thinking on his feet, he switched from gently rubbing her scales to giving them a good scratch. His fingers traveled down over her cheek and to the underside jaw. It took a moment of searching before…. there! He found the pressure point! He thanked the Gods it was in the same place Toothless' had been. Seconds after the Nadder hit the ground, Gobber came careening around the corner. When his eyes landed on the downed dragon they promptly doubled in size. His jaw dropped.

"Hiccup?" He asked, dumbfounded. The other teens were right behind him with similar expressions of shock on their faces. It seemed they were at a loss for words. But before they managed to come to their wits and string together a coherent sentence, Hiccup fled.

The first place he thought to go was the Great Hall. There, he would be able to get some food and have some time to sort through his thoughts. He ran through town and didn't slow until he reached the steps of the Great Hall. But once he was sitting with his meal, things didn't get any better. Though nobody noticed he was present, they seemed to have caught wind of the incident with the Terrible Terror from the previous day. He's not quite sure who told everyone, but they must have done a poor job. Bits of conversation drifted over to him, things like "tried to eat him" and "wrestled it to the ground with his bare hands."

Though not all of it was negative – in fact, most of it seemed to be rather positive – Hiccup found himself growing uncomfortable with all the talk. Previously, he'd always been ignored or criticized, treated like an inconvenience by many of the villagers. But now it was a different story. Many were praising his supposed actions with the Terror, discussing the act of heroism they deemed so unlike him. Had it been just several days ago, Hiccup would have been ecstatic. He'd dreamed of a moment like this his entire life, one where the other Vikings realized there was hope for him yet and praised him. But a lot had changed in several days. He'd met Toothless, and being praised because they thought he'd beaten a dragon during training left a bad taste in his mouth. He didn't want to hurt dragons, and he'd didn't like other people thinking he had, even if it made them like him.

After only eating a small portion of his meal, Hiccup decided he could stand the gossip any longer. Abandoning his plate on the table, he headed to the forest. He wasn't sure where else to go. He could head to the forge and see if Gobber needed any help, but if the blacksmith questioned him about the Nadder incident, Hiccup wouldn't know what to say. Besides, he was dying to see Toothless and try out his tailfin anyway.

The forest was peaceful. Trees provided gentle shade. Birds sang from their places among the leaves. Even the squirrels were all out and about today. The old Hiccup would have taken time to enjoy this peace he could only find outside the village. The new Hiccup, however, just wanted to see Toothless. Trading his leisurely pace for a steady jog, Hiccup set his sights on the cove.

Once he arrived, he was pleased to note the tailfin was in the same place he'd left it that morning. He wanted to test it as soon as possible so he could think about any changes it might need for improvement. Before testing the fin though, he wanted to greet his friend.

Toothless was laying by the pond, sunning himself on the warm dirt. A giggle slipped past Hiccup's lips as he thought Toothless acts just like a giant housecat. The noise caught the Night Fury's attention and before Hiccup could blink he was being tackled by a large black blur.

"Hey Toothless," he greeted. "I'm happy to see you too, bud."

But Toothless didn't exactly look happy to see him. He didn't look unhappy, exactly, but he seemed more… focused, than usual.

"Is something wrong?" Hiccup asked him.

The Night fury responded by pressing his nose against the Viking's fur vest and inhaling deeply. He let slip a discontented grumble before proceeding to rub his head all over Hiccup's clothes. The small Viking wasn't sure what his dragon friend was trying to accomplish, but it sure did tickle.

"Toothless!" He gasped as he fought back a laugh. "Wh-what are you doing?"

The dragon ignored him, choosing to keep going. Before long, Hiccup was bursting with laughter, tears of mirth leaking from the corners of his eyes. He weakly pushed at the Night Fury's head, but it was no use. Toothless was way stronger than him and equally as stubborn. He wasn't going to stop until he decided to.

Once he'd managed to rub his snout over nearly every bit of his vest, Toothless sat back on his haunches, content.

More than a little out of breath, Hiccup sat up slowly and wiped the leftover tears from his eyes. "All done then?"

Toothless leaned forwards and gave him another sniff before nodding in satisfaction.

"I don't understand. Did I smell bad or something?" He paused to think back on his day. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred that he could remember, especially nothing that would make him stink. Unless…

"The Nadder!" He exclaimed, the realization suddenly dawning on him. "I was petting the Deadly Nadder at training today and her head rubbed against my vest! But then… why did you not want me smelling like another dragon?"

Toothless grumbled, which Hiccup roughly interpreted it as 'my human,' before coming to curl around him.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. "Possessive much?" But he gave his friend a good scratch anyway.

As he ran his fingers over the pitch scales, things slowly began falling into place. At training, the Nadder had sniffed him before approaching him. And the Terrible Terror had sniffed him a lot too, and it seemed to make him happy. It had been Toothless, or more specifically his scent, that had allowed the dragons to see he wasn't a threat. Smelling another dragon on him made them realize he was a friend and could be trusted.

"Thanks bud," Hiccup whispered, thinking of the rapidly fading bruises on his arm and of Toothless taking the time to scent his clothing. The Night Fury had been taking care of him since they'd met, and now he wanted to fulfill the promise he'd made and gave back.

"What do you say we try out that tailfin?" He asked.

Toothless hopped to his feet immediately.

"Woah, slow down there bud, I want to take another look at your wound first."

The Night Fury huffed, pouting that he had to wait, but brought his tail to Hiccup's lap without hesitation. It had only been a few hours since he'd last looked at it, but it had improved a lot. The injury looked healed enough to withstand the test flight, especially since they wouldn't be leaving the cove. And besides, the leather Hiccup had used was soft and supple, it wouldn't irritate it too much.

"Alright then, Id' say we give it a shot!" Hiccup stood and approached the bundle of leather. Toothless was right at his heels, eager to get back in the air.

It took a while to get it buckled on properly, since Toothless was wriggling while ill-contained excitement, but once it was on it seemed to fit nicely. The size of the artificial fin matched the real one, and the spines collapsed and expanded properly. It looked good, but looking like it was going to work didn't mean it would. All they could do now was test it.

"Okay Toothless," Hiccup said. "We're going to take it nice and slow. How about you fly out over the water, then turn and come back to me?"

Toothless nodded, before turning to face the pond. His gaze grew sharp and he shifted his weight. Everything about him practically screamed determination. After taking a deep breath, he launched himself into the air. The takeoff wasn't bad. The artificial tailfin folded back against the tail just like the real one. Leveling out was the problem. As Toothless spread his wings to settle into an even glide, his real tailfin did the same. The artificial fin didn't have the same capabilities, though. Without all the muscles and membranes, it would never open like that by itself. The lack of support from the Viking-made fin caused Toothless to fall out of the air and crash into the water below. With a pitiful warble and a sad look in his eyes, the Night Fury swam to the edge of the pond and pulled himself back onto dry land.

"Sorry about that bud, but don't let it get you down. That was only our first test flight. Besides, I think I've figured out the problem. Now I can get started on some designs to correct it. I just have one question." Hiccup grinned mischievously, "How would you feel about a saddle?"


End file.
